


you working?

by itsmylifekay



Series: work [1]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Buck PoV, Getting Together, Jealous!Eddie, M/M, possessive!Eddie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 09:36:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21354127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsmylifekay/pseuds/itsmylifekay
Summary: a request for some jealous!EddieSummer is winding down and the 118 is out for one last event at the local park before kids are back at school. Buck attracts attention, Eddie glares at the world, and Hen is honestly having a blast.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Series: work [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1540276
Comments: 91
Kudos: 1846





	you working?

**Author's Note:**

> thank you hardcore-flower on tumblr for the support!

Summer is winding down and the 118 is out for one last event at the local park before kids are back at school. They’ve got a few games set up, but most of the kids are there for the fire trucks and the chance to finally see one up close and personal, crawling through it with little plastic fire helmets stuck securely on their heads. The whole thing is supposed to be a fundraiser for the local Red Cross and they’re selling freshly grilled hot dogs, burgers, and corn on the cob, as well as other traditional picnic food. And honestly? Buck is _loving _ it.

He gets to be outside, hanging out with his family, playing with kids, raising awareness and money for a good cause, _and _ he’s getting paid. It’s a win-win-win and he’s felt like he’s got an extra spring in his step all day.

“Excuse me.”

He pulls back from where he’s been stacking cups for children to destroy with a well-aimed throw and finds a young woman staring back at him.

She smiles at him and asks, “Are you guys here the rest of the day?”

Buck smiles back. “The event ends around four thirty, and we’ll all be here until then.” He puts the last cup on top, but nearly knocks the whole stack over when he turns back and she’s suddenly a whole lot closer.

“So you’re getting off work a little after that?” she asks. She’s got a piece of hair wrapped around one finger and big, green eyes trained right up at him.

“Uh, I guess so?” Buck shrugs and scratches at the back of his neck. “Whenever we finish cleaning up at the station.”

He notices a young girl coming closer and quickly excuses himself, smiles and offers the kid a rubber ball and three tries to win it big. (No kid turns down the chance for those cheap dollar store party favors.) She gets it in two and Buck tells her she’s got a real future in sports as she picks out her prize. They share a smile and Buck forgets all about the woman and her strange questions, caught up as he is with the next kid in line, and the one after that, and pretty soon Hen is patting his shoulder and telling him it’s his turn to help man the food station.

“Try not to get lost on the way there,” she says, grinning and already shooing him on his way.

Buck looks back at her in confusion. “It’s literally twenty feet away. I can see it from here.”

“Oh I know. Tell Eddie to take a few deep breaths for me.”

Buck immediately perks up at that. “Eddie? Is he working the food station too?”

Hen laughs and shakes her head. “He sure is.” Then, as Buck walks away, he swears he hears her say, “You two idiots got is _so_ bad.”

He doesn’t even have time to ask her what she means before he’s getting stopped by another mom with a question. He answers her and excuses himself as politely as possible, but ends up getting stopped a few more times along the way. It’s mostly parents asking if they did this event every year, if he’ll be in full uniform at any point, and one particularly enthusiastic young woman even asked if they ever did private events. He answers everything to the best of his ability and hurries to the food tables, ducking behind them and almost immediately bumping into Eddie.

His afternoon is suddenly looking a whole lot better.

“Hey,” Buck smiles and nudges Eddie’s shoulder, unable to resist the magnetic pull that he always feels around the other man. “Guess you’re stuck with me for a shift, huh?”

Eddie makes a non-committal noise in return and Buck feels his smile falter. It takes him a moment to realize the strange look on Eddie’s face and the way he’s looking just over Buck’s shoulder, out into the park. Buck turns to follow his gaze and finds nothing, just the same people milling around and enjoying the afternoon. He turns back and arches an eyebrow.

“You okay?”

“Fine,” Eddie shakes his head and finally looks at Buck, gives him a somewhat convincing smile. “Just wondering how we’re going to handle the ravenous masses.”

“Yeah, they’re real out of control.” Buck bumps their arms together again and nods his head back to where Bobby’s manning the grill. “I’m going to go check in, be right back.”

Eddie waves him off and Buck walks back to Bobby, turning back to check on Eddie after just a few steps and feeling some of the tension in his shoulders loosen when a young girl runs up to the table and Eddie immediately greets her with a genuine smile. Maybe he’d just seen a bee, before. Or thought a bird was going to poop on one of the trucks. Either way, Buck’s happy he seems to be back to normal.

He walks up to Bobby with a renewed spring in his step.

“Hey, Eddie and I are your backup this shift. Need any help?”

Bobby glances over at him with a small, knowing smile. “I’m all good. Why don’t you two just look after the table? I’ll be over in a minute to start fixing up more burgers.”

“Aye, aye captain.” Buck mock salutes and heads back to the tables, clapping Eddie on the shoulder to let him know he’s back. They immediately fall into sync, taking orders, dishing out food, and handling the cash, moving around each other without needing to think about it and throwing the occasional joke back and forth. It’s as easy as breathing and Buck is so glad that he met Eddie and has him in his life, in any capacity. Sometimes the stolen glances and private smiles make him ache for something more. Sometimes he wakes up alone in his apartment, in his bed, and wishes there was somebody next to him…somebody with familiar broad shoulders and an irresistible smile.

But he pushes those thoughts back and tries to be grateful for what he already has. Like now, out in the sun with so many happy people around him, with Eddie laughing and leaning into his shoulder like that’s where he’s meant to be.

“Excuse me.”

Buck looks up and it’s the young woman from the cup-throwing booth, same green eyes and expectant stare. He feels Eddie tense up where they’re still pressed side to side.

“We didn’t really get to finish talking, earlier.”

Just like that, the moment is broken. Eddie pulls back with a frown and Buck feels the loss like a freezing wind against his side.

“Uh, sure,” he says, smiles, tries not to look upset at her interruption. “Did you have another question?”

“Yeah, I wanted to know if you guys get breaks.” She leans a little closer to the table and gives Buck a smile like they’re both in on some special joke. “Or should I call my congressmen to complain about an unfair work environment?”

Buck is at a loss for what she’s trying to do, and honestly the idea of complaining to the government leaves a bitter taste in the back of his mouth. There are some things he’s just always going to regret.

“I mean, anytime between calls is kind of like break time for us. And our shifts get scheduled so we have downtime in between.” He looks back at Eddie to see if he’s missed something, but only gets that same cold look as before, Eddie staring somewhere off into the distance like he can’t quite meet Buck’s eye. He feels his heart sink even further.

The woman’s smile turns coy and she leans up against the table, shoulders pushed forward to extenuate her collarbones as she flicks long hair over one shoulder.

“Could you take a break _today _ then?”

Buck is suddenly struck with the realization of what exactly is happening. Seeing his own moves mirrored back at him is a bit jarring, and he’s embarrassed to admit that he fumbles, unsure for a split second as to what to say.

He shakes his head. “All hands on deck kind of day, sorry.” He smiles apologetically and lets out an internal sigh of relief when she just pouts and walks away. He’s never been so taken off guard by flirting. Usually, he’s a bit more perceptive than that. He tries to laugh it off, says, “Well that was interesting.”

He looks back to catch Eddie’s reaction, but he’s already turned away, rearranging things on the table with a little more force than is strictly necessary. Buck frowns. There’s definitely something off with the way Eddie’s been acting and judging by Hen’s comment earlier, he’s not the only one who’s noticed.

He doesn’t have time to dwell on it though and it doesn’t take long for Eddie to go back to himself, sticking close to Buck’s side and giving him that same, soft smile he’s come to love. That peace lasts for about half an hour, until Buck is serving another family with children and the baby decides to use him as target practice, taking a handful of her dad’s hotdog condiments and flinging them at Buck’s chest.

It’s a direct hit and even with the dark coloring of his LAFD shirt the bright cocktail of mustard, ketchup, and relish is quite apparent. Honestly, he’s just glad it wasn’t his face.

The parents are apologizing profusely, Eddie’s laughing, and Buck’s pretty sure that’s Chim he hears cackling over by the bounce house. He shrugs and pulls the whole shirt over his head—he’s got a white tank top underneath anyway.

Eddie’s laughter ends abruptly and he briefly registers the wide eyes of the parents before he’s getting dragged off towards one of their non-emergency vehicles. The warm brand of Eddie’s hand on his bicep is enough to keep him quiet until they come to a stop, still feeling the lingering heat even after Eddie pulls away to start rummaging around in his duffle. A shirt is thrown at his chest.

“Put that on.”

Buck stares down at it, the same bright LAFD lettering, but a little more stretched out in the shoulders. “Uh, okay,” he says. “But also why?”

Eddie just blinks at him for a second, opens his mouth and closes it again before finally saying. “There are children.” He crosses his arms. “Just put on the shirt.”

“Right,” Buck says slowly, pulling the shirt over his head and giving Eddie a _Look_that he really hopes conveys how fucking confused he is. He was wearing a tank top and they only had like fifteen minutes left at the table before Buck could go and find another shirt for himself.

But Eddie isn’t forthcoming with any explanations, instead dragging Buck back to the table and getting right back to serving the people waiting in line without another glance in his direction. Buck can’t help but feel like he’s missing something.

Their shift at the food tables ends without any further incidents and they part ways for the next rotation, Buck showing people the ladder truck and Eddie walking around making sure everything’s going smoothly.

He’s fielding some interesting questions from a group of moms, babysitters, and even an aunt with a little boy hanging off her hand when he hears a familiar voice calling his name. A moment later, Christopher comes crashing into his knees.

“Hey, buddy,” he laughs, leaning down to scoop Christopher up in his arms. “What’re you doing here?”

He looks up and sees Carla and Eddie watching them from a few yards away, Carla smiling and Eddie looking a strange mixture of fond, murderous and mortified.

“I wanted to come see you and daddy. Carla said I could if I finished picking up my Legos.”

He smiles and hugs Christopher a little closer. “Well I’m glad you’re here. You wanna see the truck?”

“Yeah!” Christopher grins and puts a hand on Buck’s neck, leaning in like he’s telling a secret. “Daddy said I could have a private tour but I couldn’t tell anyone.”

His voice is anything but quiet and the group around them laughs as Buck pushes some of the hair off Chris’ forehead. “Alright, buddy. I’ll see what I can do.”

“You’re so good with kids,” one of the moms says, stepping a bit closer. She’s got long blonde hair and beautiful eyes, reminds him a bit of Abby.

From the corner of his eye, Buck sees Eddie start making his way over.

He’s distracted as another woman steps even closer than the first, adjusting the toddler in her own arms. “And you have such a cute son!”

He can hear the question underlying her words and as much as he wishes he could claim Christopher as his own, he knows it’s not the right thing to do, especially with Christopher right there. He doesn't want to overstep any boundaries, especially since he knows how much Christopher still misses his mom.

He opens his mouth to correct her, but suddenly Eddie is right there beside him, ruffling his own hand through Chris’ hair and saying, “Thank you. We think so too, but we’re biased.”

The women around them laugh and Eddie’s hand goes from Chris’ hair to Buck’s shoulder. They exchange a few pleasantries that Buck only half acknowledges, still trying to compute the implications of what Eddie said, even as Chris starts to squirm in his arms.

He gives Buck’s neck another pat to get his attention. “I want to see the truck.”

Buck nods, glad for the distraction. “Yeah, sure bud. Let’s go see the truck.” He adjusts him on his hip and gives Eddie and all the ladies a weak smile before turning and booking it behind the truck where he can at least sort himself out in relative peace. He takes his sweet time showing Chris every nook and cranny of the rig and feels a little bad to be making other kids wait, but he just took a big group through and he’s reeling with emotional shock. He thinks he’s entitled to a little recuperation.

Christopher happily fills the silence for them, asking Buck questions, telling him about his day, his week, the Legos he’s been building and the merits of some of his favorite movies. By the time Buck finally reemerges into the world, he feels like his head is screwed back on his shoulders and he gives Christopher an extra warm hug in thanks.

“Glad you could come, kiddo.”

Christopher grins at him as he’s put down, readjusting on his crutches before setting his sights on where Hen is manning the face paint table. His eyes get huge and he looks up at Buck. “Can I be a tiger?”

“Sure you can, might have to ask your dad to take you though.” He checks his watch. “I’ve still got some time before I’m off duty.”

Christopher pouts and Bobby chooses that moment to appear, giving Christopher a conspiratorial wink before turning to Buck. “I can take it from here. We’ve shut down the grill so I can watch the truck while you take him around.”

“Seriously?” Buck looks down at Christopher and they both smile excitedly at the prospect of spending some more time together. He looks back up at Bobby. “You sure it’s okay?”

Bobby huffs a laugh. “Go.” He shoos them away and Buck doesn’t fight him on it, follows after Christopher as he takes off towards Hen who immediately smiles when she sees him.

They have to wait for two more kids to have their turns, and Eddie comes over as soon as he spots them, saying Carla’s gone home for the day and he got the okay from Bobby for Christopher to ride home with them after the event. They spend the wait playing I Spy and telling terrible jokes, dissolving into fits of giggles that have more than a few passersby turning their heads. But Buck doesn’t care, the day just keeps getting better and better and he’s not about to let that stop now.

Which is why he’s a little slow on the uptake when he feels a presence just off his left side. It’s an event with lots of kids and they’re waiting for face paint, so he doesn’t think much of someone crowding him a bit in line— until he feels a hand on his bicep that is definitely not a child, or the warm, calloused palm he’s come to associate with Eddie.

He turns and meets brown eyes that aren’t quite the right shade.

He looks down at the way this woman’s hand is curled around his arm, pink nails bright against his skin, then back up at her face.

“Hey,” she says. “Are you working or…?”

Buck swallows and really wishes she’d get her hand off of him, especially when he sees the way Eddie is standing tense to his other side. The last thing he needs is Eddie getting mad at him for being unprofessional or a bad influence in front of Chris.

“Because if you aren’t, I can think of somewhere you can put _these_,” she squeezes his bicep and strokes at his skin with her thumb like an afterthought. “To better use.”

Glancing over at Eddie, he feels himself go a little hot under the collar. Eddie’s jaw is clenched in a way that’s doing things to Buck’s insides, things that he probably shouldn’t be thinking about with a woman trying to climb him like a tree in broad daylight… and considering Eddie being pissed off probably shouldn’t be so fucking hot. But he doesn’t have time to contemplate it for long before Eddie is gone, striding off towards their tent of supplies like he’s contemplating burning it down.

Buck turns back to the woman and her eyebrows are to her hairline. She takes one look at what Buck is sure is a very unflattering, stupefied expression and laughs, steps away with a quick kiss to his cheek. “Go get him, tiger.”

Buck feels a bit like he was just hit over the head, isn’t sure how to process how much just happened in the thirty seconds.

“Like I said, both you idiots got it _bad._”

Hen’s voice snaps him out of his daze and he looks down to see that the second kid has left and Christopher is stepping up to Hen so she can help him onto the little chair.

Hen shakes her head at his red face. “I’ve already lost the betting pool, so do what you want. Lord knows you’ve both waited long enough.”

Buck looks to Christopher to try and gauge how he’s reacting to all of this, but the boy just shrugs. “Carla said daddy doesn’t like to share, like how sometimes I don’t like to share my candy.”

Hen lets out a barking laugh at that and Buck feels himself turn even redder, both at the implication and because being equated to Eddie’s metaphorical candy was making it a bit hard to think clearly. But his mind seemed quite focused on one thing: Eddie.

Hen smacks him lightly on the leg. “What’re you waiting for?”

He’s moving before she’s even finished talking, catching Christopher’s following exclamation of “I’ll be a tiger when you get back!” as he follows Eddie’s path to the supply tent.

He rounds a stack of empty cardboard boxes and nearly runs into Eddie’s back. The other man is noticeably tense, and he rubs his hands over his face before turning and fixing Buck with a smile that’s painfully fake. And honestly, Buck is a bit done with the emotional whiplash, of Eddie being happy and normal one moment and mad the next. He’s not even sure what he’s been doing wrong. Taking off a shirt? Letting someone flirt with him in front of Christopher?

Another possibly creeps at the very back of his mind, spurred on by what Hen and Christopher had said, but he pushes it back, doesn’t want all his feelings making this even more complicated than it is. In the end, he just wants Eddie to be happy.

Buck crosses his arms. “Dude, what’s up with you?” Eddie opens his mouth to protest, but Buck holds his ground. “You’ve been acting weird all day, don’t even try to lie.”

Eddie visibly deflates at that and looks down at the ground for a moment before sighing and shaking his head. “It’s nothing.”

“Eddie…” Buck starts.

“I’m serious, Buck. I’m just being immature.” Eddie gives him a half smile. “You’re not the only one who can be dramatic, you know.”

Buck rolls his eyes, but allows a small smile of his own.

“You’re really okay? Because you’ve been all over the place today.”

“Yeah, man.” Eddie reaches out and puts a hand on his bicep, squeezes slightly. “I’m okay, promise.” There’s a brief pause and Buck is positive Eddie is going to pull away and they’re going to walk back out to Christopher and Hen, that this is all going to be a very confusing incident that Buck’s going to go over in his head for weeks on end.

Then Eddie freezes. His eyes narrow.

“What’s on your face?”

He steps closer and the hand not on Buck’s bicep comes up to his face, wipes at his cheek with a few firm strokes of his thumb. It comes back tinged slightly pink, the telltale remnants of cheap red lipstick, and Eddie’s jaw twitches the same way it had before.

It’s like something clicks. The carefully constructed wall keeping all his emotions at bay comes crashing down with that one, damning crack in its foundation.

Buck’s mind is a screaming mess of _holy shit_ and flashing lights and bright, delirious, impossible hope, but he makes himself take a breath. Meets Eddie’s eyes.

“Are you—Are you _jealous_?”

Eddie’s face flushes, but he doesn’t deny it, just huffs out a breath and looks away. Buck finds himself grinning, reading the answer in the way Eddie still hasn’t let go of his bicep, the way he still hasn’t moved out of Buck’s space.

“You _are._” He takes a step closer, can’t keep the wonder out of his voice, doesn’t want to. Wants Eddie to know immediately just how amazed, how lucky, he feels. They’re chest to chest and Buck puts a hand at Eddie’s waist, grounds them both, pulls them that much closer.

“Buck…” Eddie says warningly, eyes flashing back up to Buck’s face.

“I don’t want them, you know,” Buck says, voice low. He flexes his arm under Eddie’s palm and is rewarded by the way Eddie squeezes harder in return. It’s amazing to him that Eddie might think he somehow doesn’t want this, doesn’t want _them, _when he’s felt like he was broadcasting his emotions across the entire state of California.

He makes sure to catch Eddie’s eyes, watches as they drop to his lips when he murmurs into the space between them, “I was told you don’t like to share.”

Eddie’s eyes go dark. “Buck…” It’s another warning and Buck brushes off as easily as the first, can see the lust and restraint warring behind Eddie’s eyes.

“It’s okay,” Buck murmurs, pulling Eddie in so he can press their foreheads together. He feels Eddie suck in a breath, hand twitching on Buck’s bicep. Buck wets his bottom lip. “Because honestly? I don’t want you to.”

Eddie groans and any space between them quickly disappears, Eddie pressed up against every line of his body and pushing him back until they collide with the SUV parked beside the tent. His hands are solid points of heat, one still clutching his bicep and the other holding the side of his face, keeping his head angled down as he crashes their mouths together in a kiss.

It’s dirty and perfect and honestly not at all what Buck expected. He’d thought about this moment, wondered what it might be like, and he imagined soft kisses late at night on Eddie’s couch, or a kiss of desperation after a particularly bad call. It had never crossed his mind that Eddie would try to devour him so thoroughly the first chance he got.

(It’s ridiculously fucking hot.)

He groans into Eddie’s mouth and lets the other man take control, going boneless where he’s pressed between the SUV and the solid lines of Eddie’s chest, feels a little like he’s floating out of his body. Eddie licks into his mouth, sucks on his bottom lip, and Buck never wants this to end, gives Eddie another heartfelt moan that turns into a strangled gasp when he feels a solid thigh press up between his own, pinning him further in place. He squirms between the cold metal and Eddie’s chest and bites back an embarrassing sound when Eddie ducks down to press a line of kisses beneath his jaw, has to let go of Eddie to put a fist over his mouth, whine into his knuckles.

Eddie pulls back and Buck feels slightly vindicated to see that he looks just as wrecked as Buck feels.

“_Dios mio_, you’ll be the death of me.” Eddie pants, burying his face into the crook of Buck’s neck and placing a few more kisses there. He finally lets go of Buck’s bicep to cup his face between both hands. “You drive me crazy.”

“In good ways, I hope.” Buck grins, feels his lips tingle with the movement, imagines they look red and bitten. Eddie’s eyes are drawn to them immediately and Buck’s smile gets wider. He traces over his bottom lip with his tongue.

Eddie presses his thumb right to the center. “You’re a menace.” Then his eyes turn soft and he leans forward to replace his thumb with his lips, giving Buck one last long, lingering kiss before pulling away to whisper. “But you’re _my_ menace.”

Buck makes a frankly embarrassing sound in response to that and they both make the wise choice to step away, flushed and breathing heavily and definitely not suitable for the family event going on just a few feet and one flimsy blue tarp away. They lean against the SUV, shoulders bumping, both grinning and it’s amazing how it doesn’t feel weird at all. It feels like this is exactly where they’re supposed to be.

After a minute with just the sounds of their slowly calming breathing, he nudges Eddie and puts on his best shit-eating grin. “So should I tell Christopher we worked out your sharing issue or…”

“As if everyone and their mother won’t know what we were up to as soon as we walk back out.” Eddie sighs and shakes his head. “Honestly, I think Christopher will be thrilled to hear we aren’t sharing. He was just as eager to get between you and those moms as I was.”

“Yeah, I am pretty irresistible.” He laughs and Eddie rolls his eyes, pushing up off the car. Buck shakes his head. “I can’t believe _that’s_ why you were so pissy all day.”

A thought suddenly pops into his head and he jumps to his feet, looking at Eddie with wide eyes. “Wait—is that why Hen told me to tell you to take deep breaths? Did she catch you staring?” Eddie starts to walk away but Buck calls after him, unable to help himself or the teasing tone of his voice. “How long were you glaring at all the moms, Eddie?”

Eddie ignores him, but Buck quickly catches up, throwing an arm around his shoulders and feeling like the day truly couldn’t get any better. He’s doing the job he loves, with the people he loves, and he’s got Eddie’s taste still drying on his lips to prove it. Sure, some of the people have been pushy and one of his shirts might be ruined but—

He pulls to a stop and Eddie stumbles with him, now only a few yards away from where Christopher is helpfully keeping Hen company while she turns more children into tigers and dogs and nameless creatures with cupcakes on their cheeks.

“Wait,” he says. “You put me in your shirt. _You put me in your shirt_.”

Eddie’s ‘issue with sharing’ might better be summed up by calling him a possessive bastard. He’s immediately struck with the desire to see just how deep Eddie’s possessive streak goes, and thrilled that he might actually get to find out.

Eddie ducks out from under his arm and Buck stands there for a beat, trying to wrap his head around the cliché-ness of it all.

He’s standing in a park with the sun shining, Christopher calling his name, and Eddie’s shirt soft and secure around his shoulders.

It’s kind of perfect.

He decides Eddie’s never getting his t-shirt back. In fact, he resolves to steal another one or two when he’s got the chance.

Somehow, Buck doesn’t think he’ll mind.

**Author's Note:**

> on tumblr, same username. shoot me a message and i'll probably write more Buddie


End file.
